Coming off Vengeance, we have the first Smackdown leading to the Survivor Series! After watching the ring collapse on Sunday, one has to wonder how the Big Show and Mark Henry will interact and whether or not we will be spared from seeing a third match between these two giants. With that, let’s get to the show!
Smackdown Opening: We open the show with Teddy Long in the ring. Long tells us that Henry and Big Show are here. Long is interrupted by Christian, who wants a title shot. Didn’t Christian just lose to Sheamus twice? CM Punk interrupts and Punk chants break out. The fan reaction for him is the biggest we’ve seen since any major star from that era that we all like to bring up constantly. Christian says he wants one more match and asks why Punk is here. Long announces a Super Smackdown with some Raw superstars tonight. One would think that if RAW is consistently a supershow, it would only make sense for Smackdown to do the same. Punk says he is a fan of Christian’s wrestling ability. Christian tells punk his leaving with the WWE Title this summer was a complete joke. Punk says he doesn’t waste the fans time bitching and moaning and bitching(says bitching a few times, like 30). Christian tells Punk to leave and go back to RAW. Punk chants break out. Punk says he would take his pipe bomb and go back to RAW, except 10,000 fans in Houston seem to want him here. Punk challenges Christian to a match and asks Long if it can be done? Long says it’s on. Christian and Long bicker as Punk leaves the ring. This has the potential to be a fantastic match for these two.
Next we have RTruth and Miz taking on Air Boom in a non-title match: They show Truth and Miz flashbacks of their attack on Cena at Vengeance and their beatdown on Cena this Monday. Match opens with Miz and Kofi. Miz corners Kofi and hits him with several knees and fists. Miz tags in Truth. Truth beats down on Kofi. Kofi kicks Truth in the face after an Irish whip and tags in Bourne. Born hits a standing hurricanrana and then a dropkick in the corner. Bourne kicks Truth in the head and goes for the shooting star press but Miz distracts him. Truth knocks Bourne to the outside off the ring apron. Truth goes to the outside to attack him and we go to a commercial. Miz and Bourne in the ring after the commercial with Miz in control. Miz tags Truth and they double team Bourne. Pinfall on Bourne and he kicks out. Truth locks in a choke and Bourne escapes and goes for a tag. He fails but hits a kick to the head of Truth and tags in Kofi while Truth tags the Miz. Kofi goes wild on offense and does a flying cross body for a kickout. Truth comes in to help and Bourne goes after him and misses a flying jump to the outside on Truth. Little Jimmy finale finisher on Kofi from Truth and Miz and they get the win.
After the match: How ridiculous is it for Bourne and Kofi to be champions that don’t lose, but yet they get defeated in a very quick non-title match with Truth and Miz? I know Truth and Miz are main event caliber, but it makes me wonder if the tag titles may end up being involved in the matchup at Survivor Series. Truth gets on the mic and tells the fans they should be booing themselves. Truth says they just beat the WWE Tag Team Champions and they beat Punk and Triple H at Vengeance. Miz says they beat Cena so bad that he needed The Rock at Survivor Series. Truth says Cena picked the only man on Earth who dislikes Cena more than they do. Miz says if The Rock doesn’t destroy Cena first, they’ll finish the job at Survivor Series.
Backstage segments: We have a backstage segment and Daniel Bryan says he was trained by Shawn Michaels his first year in wrestling. Tyson Kidd steps in and talks about how everybody knows Bret was better than Shawn. They bicker back and forth. Santino suggests Tyson Kidd vs Daniel Bryan for a match tonight. They both agree it’s a good idea. We then have another segment with Hornswoggle dressed as Zack Ryder. Ziggler tells Long despite his best efforts, he is still Champion after two matches in one night. Long books Ziggler in a one on one match Randy Orton tonight! This card is loaded with good matches tonight! Hornswoggle gives a woo woo woo chant and Aksana shows up behind Teddy. She says she misses Teddy and Teddy suggests they go talk in his office. Small bits of comedy like this are what keeps the show going in detail, despite how some might see it having such trivial value.
We have a flashback from RAW on Monday with yet another replay of Triple H and Kevin Nash’s interactions: This feud is being given far too much value for the lack of value in Kevin Nash’s ability. We all know that Nash won’t beat Triple H in any legitimate way, so what is the point of this garbage? Hunter has proven to everybody that he can still hang with the best of them nowadays and is light years above Nash as far as talent goes. Cole announces that Triple H will be out of action for at least six weeks. One must assume that this will be stoyline for Triple H to be coming back early for Survivor Series to face Nash while still injured.
Wade Barrett takes on Trent Baretta: Barrett kicks Baretta in the gut twice, whips him off the ropes and reversed into a standing hurricanrana by Baretta. Trent runs back at Wade and gets hit with a sidewalk slam. Kickout by Trent at two. Wade knees him in the spine and applies the arm stretch submission. Trent elbows his way out and charges Barrett but takes a knee to the chest. Barrett goes to town and boots Trent off the ring apron. Barrett follows him to the outside and hits him with a clothesline. Barrett rolls Trent into the ring and goes for the pin but gets only a two count. Chop by Trent and two more, but he’s reversed by Barrett. Barrett whips him into the corner but gets kicked. Trent goes for another hurricanrana but Barrett catches him and throws him over his shoulder to hit wasteland. Barrett picks up the victory. I like the streak that they are putting him on, and I fully expect Barrett to feud with whoever the WHC may be going into the new year.
Randy Orton and Dolph Ziggler in a non title match: Cody Rhodes comes to the ring for commentary just before the match starts. Continuing this feud with Orton is great for quality matches, but absolutely horrible for the lack of IC Title defenses as of late. They lock up and Orton works Dolph to the ropes. They continue in a lockup until they break. Ziggler whips Orton off the ropes and gets laid out. Orton applies a chinlock and Ziggler reverses. Orton and Ziggler go back and forth off the ropes and Ziggler applies a ground headlock. Orton stands them up and whips Ziggler off the ropes and knocks him down. Orton goes for a cover and we get a kickout. They stand up and Ziggler kicks Orton in the stomach and throws him into a headlock side takedown. Orton reverses out and ends up in a schoolboy attempt by Ziggler. Orton goes for one of his own then knocks Ziggler down and stomps him twice in the gut. Orton runs and slams his knee down on Ziggler and gets a two count only. Orton locks in an armbar submission and Ziggler stands up. Orton whips him into the corner and charges but gets kicked in the face. Ziggler gets a two count and continues the assault on Orton. He locks in a one handed chin lock while stretching the arm of Orton. Orton comes to his feet and hits him in the gut twice. Ziggler releases the hold and punches Orton before running to the outside. Ziggler attempts to use Vicky to block Orton but he jumps over her and clotheslines Ziggler. Commercial break. This match is highly developed on the technical level up to this point, and I’m anxious to see the finish. We come back and Orton is bringing Ziggler to his feet and whips him into the ropes. Ziggler reverses and dropkicks Orton to the ground. Kickout by Orton. Ziggler kicks Orton over and over while he’s down in the corner. Orton powers out with punches and charges Dolph but catches a knee to the gut. Ziggler applies a ground shoulder and neck submission. Orton stands up with Dolph on his shoulders and lets him down. Ziggler hits a DDT when he comes to the ground and only gets a two count when he goes for the cover. Ziggler locks in another submission and Orton headbutts his way out until Dolph hits a neckbreaker out of nowhere. Dolph gets another kickout. Dolph goes to the top rope and Orton runs up and punches him in the gut. Orton hits a super-plex off the top rope. The ring doesn’t break. Orton goes for a cover and gets a two count. Orton and Ziggler exchange blows and Ziggler gets the upper hand until Orton kicks him in the gut. Orton hits his series of clotheslines and his signature scoop slam. Orton hits his hanging DDT and we get a vintage comment from Cole. Orton gets his RKO blocked and gets superkicked by Dolph. Two count for Dolph. Ziggler goes for the Zig Zag and gets knocked off. He charges Orton who connects with an RKO for a pinfall. This match was money and shows just how much potential these two have for main eventing pay per views. Whoever calls Orton boring and “Cena-like” needs to have their head examined, and then watch this match. Rhodes storms away with his bag carriers after watching the match.
Backstage Segment: We go backstage to unmasked Black Sin Cara who says the mask was in his heart and was taken way. I can’t understand half the spanish but you can tell he’s pissed off. We get another Brodus Clay promo before coming back from commercial. If Brodus is going to be anything like the next Umaga being advertised as a beast with all those tattoos, then I sincerely hope it doesn’t all end the same way for him.
Daniel Bryan and Tyson Kidd face off as a result of the Bret vs Shawn rivalry dvd: These two face off before the match and we know this contest is only to promote the DVD. They shove each other and reverse waist locks on one another. Takedown by Bryan on Kidd and they go back and forth off the ropes. This match is loaded with aerial action and kicks from both men. It’s interesting to note that the camera angle for the match was low and different than it was for the rest of the show. Bryan hits a flying clothesline and does a mock Warrior with the shaking of the ropes. Booker T brings up the Tim Tebow comeback and compares him to the young guys breaking out. Cole says Tebow is a nerd like Daniel Bryan as well. The two exchange rollover pinfall attempts. Kidd looks for the Sharpshooter and Bryan reverses in to the labell lock and Tyson taps out. Good win for Daniel Bryan.
Flashback from RAW: We see Cena asking Laurinaitis for a match with Miz and Truth. They show the attack on Zack Ryder and the match itself with Cena getting beatdown. We get the big “controversial” announcement with Cena asking The Rock to be his partner(spit cut out in the promo). I wonder why we don’t see this many Smackdown replays on RAW? (this question was sarcasm)
Michael Cole Promo: Cole says JR has accepted his challenge for Monday. Cole shows the exact same photos from RAW on Monday. I’m not going to get into how lame and ridiculous this is all is.
Big Show comes out to the ring to address the fans: Show says whoops, he did it again. He said he’s been in the business for sixteen years and has fought legends and hall of famers. He says Mark Henry was an out of control monster at Vengeance. Show says Henry gave a good fight. Show says he isn’t quite right in the head so he wants to reinforce the ring and do it again. He knows he can take the WHC from him. Show says Teddy Long has assured Big Show that there will be a rematch in the near future. Henry interrupts. Henry says he is done with the Big Show and that he is sore because of the ring caving in. He says Show is sore because of the beating he took. Henry says maybe if he puts his foot in Show’s mouth, he might shut up. They get ready to brawl and Henry is in too much pain to step in the ring. Henry walks away and holds up the title belt.
It’s time for the main event with CM Punk and Christian: Punk chants as these two lock up and Punk uses an armbar. Christian reverses into his own armbar and Punk whips him off the rope and Christian knocks him down with a standing shoulder block. They lock up and Christian whips Punk off the ropes and Punk shoulder blocks him to the ground. Punk Hulks up for the crowd. More Punk chants. They match up hands and Christian hits him in the gut and charges Punk who hits a spinning heel kick. Punk shoulder blocks Christian over and over and gets a one count. Punk throws Christian into the corner and brings him to the ground and gets a two count. Punk locks in the armbar and Christian stands them up and elbows out. Christian reverses Punk’s whip into the corner and goes to the middle rope and hits a standing elbow drop. Christian goes to the top and misses a diving headbutt. Punk goes for a GTS and Del Rio’s music hits and outcomes Alberto. Christian counters into a DDT and gets a two count. Commercial break. Back from the break and Christian has Punk in a sleeper hold. Punk powers out and misses a legdrop. Christian kicks Punk over and over and punches him on the ground. Christian taunts the crowd. He does a scorpion death drop(inverted ddt). He then gouges Punk in the eyes and tosses him to the outside. Christian smashes Punk’s head off the announce table and rolls him into the ring and gets a one count. Punk kicks Christian over and over until he hits the ground. Punk whips Christian off the ropes and backdrops him. He clotheslines Christian and hits a swinging neckbreaker. Punk gets a two count. Punk misses a flying knee and Christian goes for a killswitch. Punk reverses and goes for a GTS and Christian reverses. They go back and forth and Christian goes to the top rope. Christian hits a flying cross body and gets rolled over by Punk who gets a close two count. Punk jumps off the rope into a scoop slam from Christian. Christian goes for the killswitch yet again and Punk hits him in the stomach and goes for the GTS until Christian counters. Punk hits the flying knee in the corner and a running bulldog. Rodriguez gets involved and Punk chases him away. He hits a jumping clothesline from the ropes on Christian and gets the two count only. Punk looks mad and goes for a flying elbow until Ricardo distracts the ref and Del Rio pushes Punk off the ropes. Christian calls for the spear. Sheamus’ music then hits and he distracts Christian into a GTS and Punk gets the victory! What an awesome main event!
Closing thoughts: It’s safe to say that Smackdown smoked RAW in regards to action this week. What an action packed show! Yeah, some might be tired of the Baretta squash type matches, but those are what started to build Mark Henry into his current gimmick. I love the showcasing of Daniel Bryan just enough so we don’t forget about him, and that the fact that he can out-wrestle most of the locker room doesn’t hurt either. Lots of talent all over the place tonight and I love it! Ziggler/Orton showed just how much talent Dolph really has as he gears up for bigger things. The best of the night was absolutely the main event; Christian, being a guy that was overlooked by Vince McMahon for so long, and CM Punk, being a smaller guy also that’s had to earn his spot, put on a really great match for us to watch.
I’ll have the final part of my Halloween Havoc Column out on Sunday, and my RAW Analysis out on Monday after the show. I don’t even want to get into the muppet talk at the moment. Until next time, you’ve been ThunderStruck!
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